Giants, Jets in talks with German firm for stadium naming rights

The Giants and Jets are negotiating with a German financial titan for what could be a record-breaking sponsorship deal at the new Meadowlands stadium.

Courtesy of the New York JetsRendering of the new Jets and Giants stadium at the Meadowlands

The naming rights deal with Allianz would put $25 million to $30 million a year in the teams' pockets for the next 10 to 20 years, said two people close to the negotiations who requested anonymity because the talks are confidential.

Allianz also had strong ties to the Nazis during World War II, providing insurance to death camps such as Auschwitz and denying payments to Jewish clients, instead allowing the German government to collect the funds.

The firm's past could evoke strong reactions, especially among Holocaust survivors and their families, but it has made efforts to atone for its crimes, according to Jewish leaders.

"Allianz has a history, and not a very noble history," said Rabbi Andrew Baker, director of international Jewish affairs for the American Jewish Committee.

But "based on what Allianz has done to address its history it should be no more and no less entitled to such a designation than any other company," Baker said.

Allianz participates in the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims, which has paid about $300 million to some 50,000 individuals, among other restitution programs, said Peter Lefkin, a spokesman for Allianz.

"We've undertaken so many initiatives over the last 60 years to redress the terrible evils of the Third Reich regime," Lefkin said.

The firm faced class action lawsuits by Holocaust victims and pressure from the U.S. government, but "what motivated us most was not pressure, but it was truly a desire to redress the wrongs" committed by Allianz during the Nazi era, Lefkin said.

Alice McGillion, a spokeswoman for the Giants and Jets, said the teams' researchers "found that Holocaust experts, former government officials and leading Jewish and survivor groups believe that Allianz has made determined efforts towards restitution and continues to do so today."

Carl Goldberg, chairman of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which owns the land where the stadium is being built, said he understands that not everyone would welcome Allianz as a stadium sponsor.

"For members of the Jewish faith, this is always a very personal kind of decision," said Goldberg, who is Jewish. "I remember when I was a child my father came to the conclusion that it was not appropriate for our family to buy a German car. But that was in the 1960s. Now it's 2008."

The Tisch family, which co-owns the Giants, is "hugely invested in Jewish philanthropy, not only in the United States but around the world, and they're very sensitive to these kinds of issues," Goldberg said.

The sports authority can bar a naming rights deal with an alcohol or tobacco company or a firm of "questionable repute," but Allianz does not qualify as such a firm, Goldberg said.

Munich-based Allianz, the world's largest insurer, with $125 billion in revenues and 167,000 employees already sponsors a PGA tournament in Boca Raton, Fla., as well as Formula 1 and an arena in Munich.

Negotiations with the Giants and Jets was first reported by The New York Times.